Friday, October 31, 2014

One cold winter day, he slowly walked several miles through the freezing snow to his
local and very remote chapel for Sunday service.

No-one else was there except the clergyman.

"I'm
not sure it's worth proceeding with the service - I think it would be better to go back
to our warm homes and have a hot drink?.." said the clergyman inviting a
mutually helpful reaction from his audience of one.

"Well,
I'm just a simple farmer," says the old crofter, "But when I go to
feed my herd, and if only one beast turns up, I sure don't leave it
hungry."

Hearing this the clergyman, felt ashamed about himself and his behavior.

He delivers his service - all the bells
and whistles, hymns and readings, lasting a good couple of hours - finishing
proudly with his fresh learning that no matter how small the need, our duty
remains.

"Was
that okay?" asks the clergyman, as the two set off home.

"Well
I'm just a simple farmer," says the old crofter, "But when I go to
feed my herd, and if only one beast turns up, I sure don't force it to eat what
I brought for the whole herd..."

From
which we see the extra lesson, that while our duty remains regardless of the
level of need, we have the additional responsibility to ensure that we adapt
our delivery (of whatever is our stock in trade) according to the requirements
of our audience.

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for
an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next
to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his
back. The two men developed a friendship and spent their time talking for hours
together. They spoke of their family, their home, job, involvement in the
military service, favorite holiday spot and so on.

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by
the window would sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate about
all the things that he could see outside the window.

The man on the other bed began to live for
those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all
the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely
lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model
boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm a midst flowers of every color and a fine
view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this
in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes
and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window
described a parade passing by.

Although the other man couldn't hear the band
- he could see it. In his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed
it with descriptive words.

Days passed by….

One morning, the nurse arrived to bring water
for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window. He had
passed away peacefully in his sleep. She called the hospital attendants to take
the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other
man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse had no objections
to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him
alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on
one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.

He strained to slowly turn and look out of the
window beside the bed.

To his amusement it faced a blank wall. The
Man talked to the nurse and found that the wall had always been there. He asked
the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate to describe such a wonderful
world outside the window.

The nurse responded
that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

The man closed his eyes. Tears rolled of his
eyes. He thanked his friend for all those happy moments…. those happy afternoon
hours….

Emotions are the outcome of our response to
the stimuli from the environment. He realized that if we are responsible for the
creation of the world around us, then we are in command of our response to the
stimuli affecting us. Emotions are just a state of mind. That includes Happiness too. If
the mind resides within us….why run in all directions chasing this Happiness.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Each year he entered his
corn in the state fair where it won honor and prizes. After the fair, the
farmer used to come back to his village and share his seed corn with his
neighbors.

One such year, a newspaper reporter came to interview the farmer after
his win. During the interaction he learnt about the farmer’s habit of sharing
his seed corn with his neighbors. He was perplexed. He felt very sorry about
this innocent behavior of the poor farmer. So he decided to
enrich the farmer with his knowledge of the so called definition of
competitiveness in today’s Corporate World.

He began with asking
the farmer; "How can you afford to
share your best seed corn with your neighbors. Aren’t you aware that by giving
them your seed corn you are jeopardizing your chances of winning next year?"

"Not at all Sir”, replied the farmer. Since I give them the seeds,
we are at a level play on the quality of the Seed. So I am challenged by my
fellow farmers on ideas and other efforts required in growing good quality
corn. This challenge keeps me afresh and alive in my work and imparts a lot of
learning. In fact this made me understand the interconnectedness that exists in
the Universe.

He continued saying, “Further the wind picks up pollen from the ripening
corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior,
sub-standard and poor quality corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the
quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow
good corn."

The farmer had given a definite insight into the connectedness of life. His corn
cannot improve unless his neighbor’s corn also improves. So it is in other
dimensions! Those who choose to be at harmony must help their neighbors to be
at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well. Those
who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness for the welfare of
each is bound up with the welfare of all. If we are to grow good quality corn,
we must help our neighbors grow good quality corn too.

Moral: Value of a life is measured by the lives it has
added value to….

A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use
while the other unused. Only one child played on the unused track, the rest on
the operational track. The train came, and you were just beside the track
interchange. You could make the train change its course to the unused track and
save most of the kids.

However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the unused track would
be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make................

Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only
one child. You might think the same way, I guess. Initially, I too thought exactly in the same way. To save most of the children at the expense of only one child was a rational decision that most people would make, morally and emotionally.

But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the unused track
had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place? Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose
to play where the danger was.

This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community, in
politics and in a democratic society, especially the minority is often
sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or ignorant
the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are.

The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was
sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, no one! would shed a tear for him.

One of my friends said that he would not try to change the
course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on the operational
track should have known very well that track was still in use, and that they
should have run away if they heard the train's sirens. He also added that if the train was diverted, the lone child would definitely die because he
never would have thought that a train could come over to that track!

Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe. If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers
on board at stake! And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one
child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be
made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one.

"Remember that what's right isn't always popular... and what's popular isn't
always right."

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Many hundreds of years ago in a small
Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to
the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant's
beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the
merchant's debt if he could marry the daughter. Both the merchant and his
daughter were horrified by the proposal.

The moneylender told them that he
would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would
then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she
would become the moneylender's wife and her father's debt would be forgiven. If
she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would
still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be
thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn
path in the merchant's garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to
pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he
had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the
girl to pick her pebble from the bag.

What would you have done if you were
the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful
analysis would produce three possibilities:

1.The girl should refuse to take a
pebble.

2.The girl should show that there
were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.

3.The girl should pick a black pebble
and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and
imprisonment.

The above story is used with the hope
that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical
thinking.

The girl put her hand into the
moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it
fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the
other pebbles.

"Oh, how clumsy of me," she
said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left,
you will be able to tell which pebble I picked." Since the remaining
pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And
since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what
seemed an impossible situation into an advantageous one.

MORAL:
Most complex problems do have a solution, sometimes we have to think about them
in a different way.